Suspending the Ninth

Added: 2026-05-04

[00:00:00]If a root relationship consists of an ascending fourth, whereby voice leading allows a motion of a triad to a seventh chord, >> [music] >> we can introduce a suspension of the ninth. This is done by suspending the chordal fifth of the first chord over the next chord, thereby becoming a ninth, which resolves to an octave.

[00:00:32]>> [music] >> It should be noted that a ninth suspension must, in strict voice leading, contain the intervalic relationship of a ninth to the base.

[00:00:42]Therefore, any voicing that creates a second resolving to a unison is improper, as the effect of the ninth as a suspension is inaudible if the interval of the second is heard in place of the ninth. Therefore, the ninth must be audible. How you invert the chord around this relationship is where the freedom lies. And remember that after one octave, a ninth can be separated by further octaves and still be audible as a ninth.